Back to the Future North American Tour

[Musigamist]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:07am

Just announced this morning, the US tour of BTTF will launch in Cleveland from June 11-July 7, 2024 following a tech at Schenectady from June 4-6, 2024. After Cleveland, it will travel to Charlotte, NC, from July 9-21, 2024

Updated On: 3/28/23 at 11:07 AM

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:37am

Seems really early to announce this. Good for them, though, I guess. I'm sure this will sell well across the country, being such a recognizable IP.

[Call_me_jorge]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:47am

Curious how this will affect sales for the Broadway production; This seems way too early to announce, let alone launch, a tour.

[quizking101]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:48am

That’s a bit of a boneheaded move

it seems like they’re disincentivizing people from coming to New York City to see the show by telling them it’s OK to wait

[EDSOSLO858]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:52am

SIX also announced a national tour before it officially opened. 

[BuddyStarr]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:55am

After seeing the show in London last year, I could only guess that they're trying to get advance sales as high as possible before the show the actually opens and word of mouth gets out.  This is going to be an expensive show to produce and the Winter Garden is a huge theater.

I personally wouldn't waste my movie on this turkey and don't expect the reviews to be kind.

[TheGingerBreadMan]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 11:56am

EDSOSLO858 said: "SIX also announced a national tour before it officially opened."

Six also had the advantage of having multiple hit runs prior to their Broadway run and had insanely high word-of-mouth and interest built up - in addition to having played preview performances on Broadway before the shut down. BTTF doesn't have the same type of hype or interest, and it's singular run prior to coming to Broadway wasn't exactly the success that Six's pre-bway runs were.

[bdn223]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 12:05pm

quizking101 said: "That’s a bit of a boneheaded move

it seems like they’re disincentivizing people from coming to New York City to see the show by telling them it’s OK to wait"

My guess is that the tour and financing was lined up when the show was supposed to open this season, but when they decided to push its opening back getting lost in one of the most competitive Tony seasons in recent memory they couldn't push back the tour. 

[GiantsInTheSky2]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 12:44pm

TheGingerBreadMan said: "and it's singular run prior to coming to Broadway wasn't exactly the success that Six's pre-bway runs were."

It may not be the smash hit with screaming teenagers every night like Six has had, but it is still running in London (in its second year) and the run currently extended through July. From what I’ve heard, a UK tour is in the plans as well. So I wouldn’t say it’s doing poorly or at risk of failing, if they intend to have three to four major productions running.

[BwayLB]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 12:57pm

I just hope it’ll be good enough for me to want to buy a ticket when it hits Costa Mesa

[ErmengardeStopSniveling]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 1:14pm

I don't think it'll have ANY bearing on Broadway sales. This is an industry-centric announcement. Locals won't know it's coming to their city until the local presenters start promoting it.

It's a good strategy to get a show out on tour as quickly as possible to capitalize on any Broadway buzz. That's hard to do sometimes –– sometimes takes 2+ years, but here the show has already played London. They know this will be a hot title for middle-america road audiences, and it's a show of confidence.

[chrishuyen]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 2:27pm

I'm just very curious to see how this would tour.  The set is wild and while I can see a few places where it could be scaled down, without the full scope of the special effects, it's just not a very good show imo.

[trpguyy]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 5:49pm

ErmengardeStopSniveling said: "I don't think it'll have ANY bearing on Broadway sales. This is an industry-centric announcement. Locals won't know it's coming to their city until the local presenters start promoting it."

Local presenters have already started promoting it.

 

 https://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/2023/03/back-to-the-future-the-musical-funny-girl-mj-headline-playhouse-squares-2023-24-keybank-broadway-series.html

https://www.timesunion.com/theater/article/proctors-heading-back-future-2023-24-season-17864467.php

[CATSNYrevival]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 6:49pm

I’m curious to see how they’ll scale the design for the tour.

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 6:58pm

“Local presenters have already started promoting it.”


that’s an article, not an advertisement. Of course local media is going to cover an arts announcement, but ermengard was referring to the paid ads/bus stops/taxi and bus ads/commercials that hit a city when the show is actually in town. That won’t happen for a while. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 7:11pm

I believe you’re conflating marketing and promotion. The tour is already being promoted. 
 

Besides, this is all assuming that a theatre fan wanting to travel to NYC and see a Broadway show wouldn’t be aware of their local road house’s season, which, seems like an uncommon scenario. 

Updated On: 3/28/23 at 07:11 PM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 7:18pm

No I’m not. Of course it’s being “promoted” in an announcement…it’s an announcement. Not as if it was going to be a secret until it actually came to town. But a majority won’t care until the show is in town because this is an industry-centric announcement, which is what ermengard was explaining. 

[trpguyy]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 7:23pm

I’m assuming you’re a reasonable person, so I’ll use reason. 

 

Local presenters are already promoting this show as part of their upcoming season, in an effort to sell season subscriptions. Subscriptions are crucial for local presenters. 
 

A theatre fan who has travelled to NYC probably won’t buy a ticket to a particular Broadway show if they’ve already bought a ticket to see it when it comes to their town later in the year. 
 

Whether or not that show has had a billboard in their town is not relevant. 

Updated On: 3/28/23 at 07:23 PM

[BroadwayNYC2]

Posted: 3/28/23 at 7:31pm

I think your overanalyzing some semantics. All of that is obvious, of course that happens. But it’s still only reaching a very small subset of the market. Until then, let’s call it a draw